This radio spot from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Birmingham, AL, is starting to make the rounds among episco-geeks. I'll give you a second to go listen to it...
Okay, so what was your reaction? I'll say up front that I absolutely love it. And many of my friends are having a great time with it as well.
There are, however, some negative reactions to it. My friend JJ says the following:
"First, if I understand the "where" of this piece, it's in Birmingham, Alabama. If so, then this could very well be a wonderful example of "contextualizing and inculturating theology." To invite people to church by using the style of monster truck events -- with which presumably the audience is very well familiar -- is an interesting way to get their attention and it might even persuade them to make some better connections between their life of faith and their daily grind at work.
"Second, well, I'm appalled. Phrases like "see sin crushed beneath monster loaves of bread" or whatever that phrase was, and "giant vats of wine" just strikes me as over the top in some way that I can't quite put my finger on. I do, however, have a fairly negative gut reaction to it. I'm not so sure that caricaturing the Holy Mysteries is the best way to get people to take them more seriously. In fact, it may do just the opposite by simply strengthening the idea that going to church is not so different from going to a monster truck rally -- both are just two possible options on a menu of activities from which one might choose to pass the time. And really, if that's all they are, then why in the world would anyone choose to go to a liturgy rather than a sporting event? But if they are fundamentally different types of activity then it's not a matter of choosing between two similar thing but fixing one's priorities. I fear this ad does not help anyone see the important distinction between the kinds of activity."
Okay, so I don't think that this ad is meant as catechesis, it is a way to catch people's attention. I bet it does just that. I'd love to hear the anecdotal observations from the folks at St. Andrew's whether this actually brings people in the doors or not. As to whether or not it confuses people's concept of the Holy Mysteries, well that's depends on how well the follow-up goes. In my mind, this is not very different than the ads develped by the Minnesota Ad Project back in the '80s. They were funny ways to get people to question their assumptions. One of the assumptions that I think people have about TEC is that we are stuffy and take ourselves way too seriously. Well, maybe this radio ad will help people think that at least some episcopalians have a sense of humor.
Then there's the point that Jesus used some pretty over-the-top ways to get people's attention. "The Kingdom of God is like a what???!!!"
According to Nan Ross at the Episcopal Media Center, the ad has not yet run, but is planned for local radio soon. I'll try to follow up and keep you posted.
